Hawthorn gun Will Day will need to get through the VFL on managed minutes before he makes his long-awaited AFL return.<\/p>\n
Day has had a luckless run with injury, playing just six games across the past two seasons.<\/p>\n
The latest setback, a shoulder concern sustained in pre-season, has kept Day from Hawthorn\u2019s strong start but he trained well on Thursday and will be available in five weeks.<\/p>\n
Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell is buoyed by Day\u2019s progress but is committed to taking the conservative approach.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he\u2019ll come back through the VFL. I think he\u2019ll play reasonably limited game time in his first game back whenever that is, I couldn\u2019t put an exact date on it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he gets back, I suspect he will play at least one game with limited game time through the VFL and we\u2019ll make assessments from there.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s still a period away, even though, I must admit I watch him train and am thinking, \u2018Are you sure it has to be that long?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you just trust the medical staff, they do a great job for us. I am looking forward to getting him back but it won\u2019t be soon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Day was doing some light tackling at training on Thursday morning, as his Hawthorn teammates prepared for Port Adelaide on Saturday at Marvel Stadium.<\/p>\n
Mitchell rejects the need for Day to make any technical adjustments to prevent injury, insisting the emphasis on tackling is just contact conditioning.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe majority of his injuries haven\u2019t been impact, he\u2019s obviously had the stuff with his feet which have been the majority of his stuff,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s only had the two physical hit injuries, one was from Jai Newcombe of all people, and then the one at training.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo technique wise he\u2019s quite good, I think as they build back the training, you obviously build them back physically with running, weights, but you also have to build back contact.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ll build back his contract, he\u2019ll do controlled tackling (because) the worst thing you can do is no tackling and then \u2018OK, play footy\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not that we\u2019re changing his technique too much, it\u2019s just that we\u2019re slowly getting him used to contact before he comes back.\u201d<\/p>\n